Round 5+6 Race Report

Race days: Mar 6/7 + 13/14

ROUND 5 + 6 Wrap

Dear Cup Fans and Racers, this is a slightly different wrap up of the last two rounds of our 2024/25 season due to a massive lack of available time just at the moment. I just want to say from the start that these two weekends of racing have been quite special. We didn’t have our usual massive grids which I really love to see but we did have brilliant racing, the Hyosung Championship still wasn’t decided after Motofest, the weather was perfect, both race events were particularly well run by the Team upstairs and the volunteers around the circuit were at their best. The atmosphere in the Cup Camp is always good and this was again borne out by the help given to riders needing parts or advice to get back racing. Camaraderie is alive and well.

**Oli at full stride! Billee thinking of running to Tylers bike. ☺ ASP snap**

Motofest

The Hyosung Cup at Motofest was total domination by Elijah taking a very rare max points from pole, 3 race wins and 3 fastest laps! His best lap was 2:02.643. This meant he re -took the overall points lead from Scotty and it would go down to the last race at Taupo for the title to be decided. Esmond ended the round P3 with solid finishes just ahead of the flying Taranaki father and son Team of Riley and Troy Fowles. Riley is really finding some speed lately. Four of the top six round finishers are from the Naki! Another significant result from Motofest was Too Tall Trent McDiarmid finishing all 3 races. Awesome to have Trent back and good to see him have a solid round.

What can we say about Tyler King. This young guy is on fire! Fresh off opening eyeballs at the Phillip Island ASBK round where he also broke a bone in his foot, Tyler nails pole and nabs 3 from 3 with a fastest lap in race 3. Billee was not having an off day. She fought hard and they had some spectacular battles with Bill’s grabbing fastest lap in race’s 1 and 2. Jesse’s lap record does remain intact however at 1:48.756. Tyler got very close with a 1:48.975. Oli Pykett was rueing the time away from the track and the sub 1:50 lap eluded him all weekend. Still a good P3 for the weekend and stretching his points lead over Mike Robinson. Benny Cook smoked his mate Lozza May but Lozza remains committed to finishing 6th, his favourite number. Joe Stroud is the 5th member of the fast family to compete in the Cup and he clearly has the genes of his dad and brothers, he’s growing in skill very time he swings a leg over his Ninja 400.

**Hadleigh leads a pack into turn 7. ASP snap**

Motomania

Onto Motomania, another festival of bike racing created by ole mate of mine Paul Treacy. We go back to the ‘80’s and racing in the UK and Europe. Paul went on to spanner for some of the best racers in Grand Prix. Our field was somewhat depleted at Taupo which was a shame but the back to back weekends including an away game adds to the cost for sure. Again we had great weather and with a corner change at Taupo a good grippy resurface at turn 7 we expected some fast lap times.

Elijah was not holding back and went P1 in qualy, P1 and fastest laps in race 1 and 2 and then came in P2 to Scotty in race 3 to secure his Carl Cox Motorsport Hyosung Cup title. If Elijah had a DNF in race 3 Scotty would have taken the title so he gave himself the best chance of that by pushing hard right to the flag for the race win. By Esmond’s high standards he had a shocker and DNF’d the last race. Still holding on for P3 in the Cup he is a great competitor and brings such a good attitude.

**One of the seasons classic battles. Scotty Findlay and Elijah Daken. ASP Snap**

Tyler wanted to finish his season on a high and placed his Ninja 400 firmly on pole from Billee. The first race though Bill’s was not having a bar of a runaway win by Tyler and they scrapped and fought like brother and sister right until the last corner of the last lap when Bills had a situation which saw her in the weeds, fortunately unhurt. Billee posted the fastest lap in that race of Champions but Tyler took the win. Tyler took 2 more wins and fastest laps leaving a new lap record on the table. Bill’s had 2 x P2 finishes whilst Joe Stroud made more strides (not Strouds) to take a P2 and 2 x P3’s for the weekend. It was great to have Cup sponsor and past Champion Chris Smith back and putting in PB’s, Megan and Andy Ansell had a great weekend with solid finishes in all races, Benny spanked Lozza (normal) actually equal on points but Benny came home ahead in the last race so gets P8 for the weekend. Son and dad Team Alex and Graeme Le Comte were never far apart on track but Alex had the better of dad. Sad to see Tim Gray have a couple of off’s which is unusual for him and quite expensive having totalled 2 x helmets. He’s ok though and still smiles ☺.

Our women’s Championship has been dominated by Billee taking 3 wins in the Ninja Cup, plus 7 fastest laps and 1 pole. 3 crashes didn’t help Bill’s points total but when pushing so hard that’s always on the cards. Megan has had a good consistent season with some great results for P2 and only 1 DNF. 3 x 5th places really boosted her points. Tylers mum Vicky improved every time she went out. Only a DNF in the 1 Hour blemished her 100% finishing record for P3 in the Women’s Cup. It was great to see Shelley also learning and improving race by race and banking good points in the last 4 rounds. We hope to see Amy Trigger on track again after her crash and resulting broken collarbone at round 4.

**Never far apart. Billee hands over her title to Tyler. ASP snap**

That’s a wrap

What a fantastic season we’ve had. I keep saying it but its all down to the competitors and their support crew bringing a good attitude, having fun and leaving egos and agendas out of our class’s. The Team at AMCC have been super supportive and run very good events, it’s a great partnership we have enjoyed for 14 seasons.

I’ll sign off by thanking all our Super sponsors. Its very humbling that these business’ support the Cup like they do. Its not been an easy 12 months for many business’s in the recessionary climate we’ve had, but they have stuck by us. And to Carl Cox. Just a super nice guy and doesn’t forget where many champions come from, Cup racing just like ours.

See you all at the Clubs official prizegiving. Date, time and venue TBA.